Thanks people for the continued feedback, just the kind of stuff I was after and some great personal stories to boot! Congrats to those of you who made the dream happen - creating one's own luck
So far, I'm thinking if you want it bad enough you can get it, although might not be instant and patience will defintely be needed in getting one's foot in the door for that first job - the timing issue!!
Defintely leaning towards a modular root, whilst having a back up plan to earn through finance if jobs are hard to come by at time of completion.
JJ